Compartmented clothes hamper



Feb. 28, 1956 MOCONNELL 2,736,454

COMPARTMENTED CLOTHES HAMPER Filed March 24, 1955 INVENTOR MILDRED G M CONNEL Fl 0, I.

BY 214% pm w um ATTORNEY United States Patent O COMPARTMENTED CLOTHES HAMPER Mildred G. McConnell, Oakland, Calif.

Application March 24, 1953, Serial No. 344,285

2 Claims. (Cl. 220-40) This invention relates to clothes hampers, and more particularly, has reference to a clothes hamper so designed as to include a plurality of individual sections therein, each of which sections is provided with a removable bag or flexible container.

Ordinarily, clothes hampers are not sectioned or compartmented, and as a result, itis necessary, when clothes are to be removed therefrom for laundering, that the various items removed from the hamper be sorted out properly, into separate portions. It will be appreciated that the nature and coloring of the various items governs the sorting thereof into separate piles, it being essential that certain of said items not be washed in the same tub with other items, due to their tendency to discolor said other items.

The operation described above is obviously time consuming and inconvenient for the housewife, and is to be avoided if possible. Accordingly, the main object of the present invention is to provide a compartmented clothes hamper so designed as to permit a plurality of individual bags or flexible containers to be suspended therein, each container being adapted to hold a particular classification of laundry, as for example, white garments, colored garments, etc.

Another object of importance is to provide a hamper as described which, despite the desirable features thereof noted above and having regard to the hamper compartmentation, can nevertheless be manufactured in a size and exterior configuration no different from those of conventional hampers.

Another object of importance is to provide a hamper as described which will be so designed as to permit the flexible containers to be removably suspended within their associated compartments, and separably connected at their upper ends to the walls of the compartments in such a manner as to cause the open upper ends or months of the containers to be retained in an expanded condition, thereby to facilitate the insertion of the soiled garments.

Yet another object is to provide a hamper construction as described in which the flexible containers, when disconnected from the walls of their associated compartments, can be removed bodily from the hamper, to permit the contents of said container to be emptieddirectly into a washing machine.

A further object of importance is to provide a hamper construction as stated wherein a hinged lid will be so proportioned as to normally cover the upper ends of the several flexible containers, said hinged lid having a treadle-operated elevating mechanism associated therewith in such a manner as to permit the lid to be swung upwardly with considerable facility, whenever access to the interior of the hamper is desired.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is atop plan view of a clothes hamper formed in accordance with the present invention;

"ice- Figure 2 is a front elevational'view;

Figure 3 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially on line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on line 44 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged, detailed sectional view of the separable fastener means for suspending the containers within their associated sections.

The reference numeral 10 has been applied generally to an outer receptacle, and as will be noted from Figure 4, said outer receptacle includes a flat back wall 12, and an arcuate front wall 14, said walls cooperating to impart a semi-circular cross sectional configuration to the receptacle, from the upper to the lower ends thereof.

To eliminate sharp edges, the upper end edges ofthe back and front walls 12, 14 are formed with a continuous bead 16, the lower end edges of said walls being similarly formed with a continuous bead 18.

Spaced about the lower end of the receptacle 10, and extending downwardly from the bead 18 of the receptacle, are feet 20, which support the receptacle in an elevated position above. a floor surface or the lke. The feet 20, it may be noted, can be eliminated if desired.

Closing the lower end of the receptacle 10 is a bot-v tom end wall 22, said end wall being formed with a peripheral, depending flange rigidly secured in any suitable manner to the interior surfaces of the front and back walls of the receptacle. The bottom end wall 22 is elevated above the rolled lower end edge of the receptacle, as best shown in Figure 3, to provide a clearance space in which a treadle-operated lever, to be described hereinafter, can be mounted.

A lid 24, of semi-circular outer configuration, closes the upper end of the container, and is hinged as at 26 to the upper end edge of the back wall '12. For the purpose of swinging the lid 24 upwardly from its normally closed position, a treadle-operated means is provided, said means being particularly well shown in Figure 3 and including a depending pivot bracket 28 secured to the center portion of the bottom end wall 22. A main lever 30 is pivotally connected, intermediate its ends, to said bracket 28, for swinging movement within a vertical plane, the opposite end portions of said lever projecting through vertical slots 32, 34, formed in the back and front walls 12, 14 respectively. I

That end portion of the lever 30 projecting through the slot 34 is integrally or otherwise rigidly formed with a foot treadle 36. To simplify construction, said treadle can be formed directly from the material of the lever, being circularly shaped as in Figure 4.

It will be understood that depression of the treadle 36 will be effective to impart upward swinging movement to the rear end portion of the lever 30, and pivotally connected to said rear end portion of the lever is an elongated link 38 formed from a suitable length of stout rod material or the like. Link 38 is extended upwardly along the back wall 12, exteriorly of the receptacle, and is pivotally connected at its lower end to the lever.

At its upper end, the link 38 is pivotally connected to one end of a second lever 40, said second lever being mounted to swing within a vertical plane upon a pivot bracket 42 secured to the back wall 12 intermediate the upper and lower ends thereof.

Pivotally connected to the other endof the second lever 40 is a link 44, pivotally attached at its upper end to a lateral projection 46 rigidly secured to the lid 24 and projecting rearwardly from the lid beyond the hinge axis of said lid.

By reason of the construction illustrated and described, it will be apparent that depression of the treadle 36 will be effective to impart movement to the link 38. As a result, the second lever 40 will be rocked about its pivot axis, causing downward movement of link 44. Dwn- Ward pull is thus exerted upon the projection 46, and as a result, the lid 24 will be swung to an upper position, thereby to expose the interior of the receptacle 10.

I prefer that there be secured, to the underside of the lid 24, a sock bag 48 formed of flexible plastic material or the like. It will be readily appreciated that when the lid 24 is swung upwardly, the sock bag will be conveniently disposed for insertion or removal of socks or other small articles to be laundered therewith.

Referring to Figure 4, there is shown in this figure of the drawings the arrangement whereby I compartment the interior of the hamper, and as will be noted, a brace is provided within the hamper, which brace can be formed from a single length of flat bar material or the like, having a short bight 50 rigidly secured to the back wall 12, intermediate opposite sides of the back wall. The bight 50 merges at its opposite ends into legs 52. The legs 52 extend horizontally within the receptacle, diverging in a direction away from the back wall 12. The divergent ends of the legs 52 are integrally formed with lateral extensions 54 fixedly secured to the inner surface of the arcuate front wall 14.

The brace is preferably mounted at the upper end of the receptacle, but it will be understood that the brace could be mounted in a lower position if desired, and could, in fact, comprise a series of vertically spaced, identically formed brace members.

The brace subdivides the receptacle into a plurality of sections each of approximately triangular cross section. Thus, end sections 56 are provided, said sections being disposed at opposite sides of a center section 58. Each section is adapted to contain a particular classification of soiled garments or other items to be laundered.

Within the end sections 56 I suspend end containers 60, a center container 62 being suspended within the center section 58. The several containers 60, 62 can be identically formed, from plastic or other flexible ma terial, each container substantially filling its associated compartment. Each container 62 is hemmed or other wise reinforced at its upper end, and separable fastener elements 64, 66 are carried by the containers and their associated inner receptacles, for detachably connecting the containers to the walls of their associated compartments. As will be noted from Figure 5, the separable fastener elements can each include a female element 64 carried by the container 60, and a male element 66 carried by the section wall. The separable fastener means thus defined is adapted, as will be appreciated, not only to suspend the containers within the several sections of the hamper, but also to retain the mouths of the containers in an expanded condition, thereby to facilitate the insertion of the soiled garments.

Ordinarily, the several flexible containers will be suspended within their associated compartments in the manner shown in Figures 3 and 4. However, assuming that the hamper contents are to be removed, it is merely necessary that the treadle 36 be depressed to elevate lid 24, after which the separable fastener elements 64, 66 will be exposed in a location where they can conveniently be disengaged. The flexible containers can then be lifted bodily out of their compartments, and the contents of each container can be emptied directly into a washing machine. Thus, there is eliminated the tedious task of sorting out the hamper contents, prior to washing thereof.

The hamper can, of course, be exteriorly ornamented in any desired manner, and it will also be understood that suitable deodorizing means can be incorporated in the construction, either directly within the material of which the containers 60, 62 are formed, or in a separate deodorizing device mounted interiorly of the hamper.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A clothes hamper comprising: an outer receptacle having a flat back wall and an arcuate front wall cooperating to impart a semi-circular cross sectional configuration to said receptacle; a horizontally disposed U-shaped brace positioned within said receptacle and having its bight abutting and secured to the intermediate portion of said back Wall, the legs of said brace extending in a diverging direction from said bight and having their free ends engaging and secured to the adjacent portions of said front wall, said brace subdividing the outer receptacle into a plurality of sections each of approximately triangular cross section; a container for clothes and the like removably mounted in each of said sections; and separable fastener means spaced circumferentially about each of said containers and about the walls of the respective sections, for removably suspending the containers within their associated sections.

2. A clothes hamper comprising: an outer receptacle having a flat back wall and an arcuate front wall cooperating to impart a semicircular cross sectional configuration to said receptacle; a horizontally disposed U-shaped brace positioned within said receptacle and having its bight abutting and secured to the intermediate portion of said back wall, the legs of said brace extending in a diverging direction from said bight and having their free ends engaging and secured to the adjacent portions of said front wall, said brace subdividing the outer receptacle into a plurality of sections each of approximately triangular cross section; a container for clothes and the like removably mounted in each of said sections; separable fastener means spaced circumferentially about each of said containers and about the walls of the respective sections, for removably suspending the containers within their associated sections; and a hinged lid for said receptacle proportioned to overlie the several sections of the receptacle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 533,638 Davidson Feb. 5, 1895 1,170,797 Burroughs Feb. 8, 1916 1,240,131 Gibbs Sept. 11, 1917 1,381,390 Zifferer June 14, 1921 1,384,254 Hagley et al. July 12, 1921 1,507,040 Zifferer Sept. 2, 1924 1,653,556 Faber Dec. 20, 1927 1,791,766 Scharf Feb. 10, 1931 2,038,218 Holt Apr. 21, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 76,176 Switzerland Nov. 16, 1917 539,483 Great Britain Sept. 12, 1941 

